A STOPPAGE-time penalty from Elliott Ward gave the Sky Blues their first goal for four games and inflicted a devastating blow to relegation battlers Barnsley.

The Tykes had got their noses in front with an eighth-minute strike from Daniel Bogdanovic against the run of play as they took advantage of more poor defending from City, who despite three decent chances were unable to break down a determined visitors’ defence.

But to add to Coventry’s frustration those chances fell to defenders Ward and Danny Fox, the latter forcing the keeper into a good save in the first half.

Clinton Morrison was a surprise exclusion from the team, due to illness, and manager Chris Coleman was forced to name four academy players on the bench because there were no other fit senior players.

Coventry started out with plenty of purpose and Robbie Simpson went close when he headed a Fox free-kick on to the roof of the net in a game in which the striker really needed to prove himself in his favoured position.

But that early promise went to pot when the defence was caught static to allow Bogdanovic to snatch the opening goal.

In classic counter-attacking football, wide man Jamal Campbell-Ryce nipped down the left and sent in a low cross to the penalty spot where the Malta international controlled the ball and showed quick feet to pull wide of Ben Turner and drill the ball into Keiren Westwood’s right-hand corner.

Bogdanovic should have made it 2-0 minutes later when his strike partner Jon Macken raced down the right and sent in a threatening cross which the centre-forward connected with but couldn’t hit home before Turner nipped in to clear the danger.

The goal suddenly opened the game up and City hit back with three corners in quick succession which resulted in two good chances from the impressive Ward, who had a bending shot headed clear from one and a powerful header that thumped the crossbar from another, before midfielder Adam Hammill curled a 25-yard effort inches wide for the visitors.

Guillaume Beuzelin was doing a decent job winning the ball and spreading it about, and did superbly well when he raced 40 yards to deny Bogdanovic getting a shot in as City were overrun in a four versus three counter attack.

Fox was getting forward well on the left wing where he cut into the box just before the half-hour mark, but was denied by former Sky Blues loan player Luke Steele in goal.

The supporters, however, expressed their displeasure when Marcus Hall – faced with few options in front of him – hit a long back pass from the edge of the centre-circle rather than risk getting his side into trouble.

But it was a sign of their growing frustration that they booed the stand-in skipper’s decision.

Simpson, meanwhile, squared up with strapping centre-back Darren Moore, against whom he was having a difficult physical tussle, after the striker went down claiming he had been fouled for a fourth time, the defender accusing his opponent of looking for free-kicks.

Meanwhile, Eastwood was getting no joy at all, and continually struggled to hit the target on the few occasions he found himself in sight of goal.

He was also lucky to get away with pulling full-back Bobby Hassell to the ground in an off the ball incident that went unseen by the lenient referee Steven Cook, who then spoke to the striker after it was brought to his attention by his assistant.

City were suffering for the fact that Aron Gunnarsson was playing out wide and therefore not involved in the thick of the action as much as he would normally be.

But the midfielder was eventually moved inside when the popular teenager Ashley Cain – whom the fans had been calling for to go on – replaced Beuzelin for the last 17 minutes.

Coventry dominated much of the possession in the second half as the visitors kept things tight, hoping to get something on the break.

But a last ditch effort in five minutes of stoppage time saw City awarded a controversial penalty when full-back Rob Kozluk diverted a powerful Eastwood shot with his arm after a neat three man move – the defender protesting furiously that it hit his chest.

It started with Cain sending in a cross from the right which Simpson flicked on to his partner who was then denied what would have been his first goal since December.

The referee, officiating only his second game, missed it but the far linesman signalled the offence straight away and called him over, as Ward placed the ball on the spot.

The centre-half then topped a good display with a finely taken kick down the middle to salvage a point and a bit of heart for the fans who left the ground satisfied in the end, despite their growing mood of discontent during the 90 minutes.

It was certainly not a case of City not trying hard enough, just a fact that they have simply not got the quality to score goals and see teams off at this moment in time.